Halsted Middle School, Newton NJ

Original Research by School Decision on Halsted Middle School

Halsted Middle School serves students in grades five through eight in Newton, the county seat of Sussex County. The town functions as the governmental, commercial, and institutional hub of the surrounding rural county, with the Sussex County Courthouse, county administrative offices, Newton Medical Center, and Sussex County Community College all located within its borders. Newton’s historic downtown core along Spring Street is walkable and compact, anchored by the Newton Town Green and the Newton Theatre, a performing arts venue. The town reached its highest recorded population in the 2020 census, though a slight decline has been estimated since then. The school itself sits on a campus set back from the downtown core, consistent with the suburban-rural school siting pattern common in the area.

Halsted Middle School is a regular public school serving grades five through eight within the Newton Public School District. The student body is diverse in its composition, with a roughly even split between white students and Hispanic students, each group making up a substantial share of enrollment. Black students and students of two or more races each account for a smaller presence, and Asian students make up a very small share. A significant portion of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating that a meaningful share of families face economic pressure. Data on students with individualized education programs and English learners was not available in the source material.

The school’s academic performance on the New Jersey Student Learning Assessments shows a clear pattern. In English language arts, the school posts results that are stronger than its math and science outcomes. Across grades five through eight, the share of students scoring proficient or above in ELA is generally in the moderate range, with the strongest showing in seventh grade and the weakest in fifth grade. In math, the picture is softer. Proficiency rates are lower across all four grades, with eighth grade math showing a particularly low result. Science results follow a similar pattern, with fifth grade science showing a modest share of students reaching proficiency and eighth grade science showing a very low share. When compared with other districts in Sussex County, Halsted Middle School’s overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades falls in the bottom quartile. A parent may want to look into this further with the school to understand the academic support and intervention strategies in place.

The school serves a mid-sized enrollment for a middle school in this grade band. The student body is split roughly evenly between white and Hispanic students, with a smaller but notable Black student population. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the economic diversity of the community. Newton itself is a compact, walkable county seat with a historic downtown core, but the school is situated on a campus set back from that core, consistent with the area’s suburban-rural school siting patterns. The district did not have recent parent-relevant changes or initiatives surfaced in available search results, so this narrative cannot speak to any recent curriculum shifts, facility updates, or budget developments.

For a family considering Halsted Middle School, the academic picture is mixed. English language arts results are the school’s relative strength, with a majority of students in grades six and seven meeting proficiency standards. Math and science results are considerably lower, and the school’s overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile among Sussex County districts. The school serves a community that is the governmental and commercial center of a rural county, and the student body reflects the area’s economic and demographic diversity. Families who value a middle school setting in a small-town county-seat environment will find that here, but those focused on math and science outcomes may want to ask the school about its curriculum and support structures in those subjects.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 527%

School 27% · District 27%

▼ 16 pts below state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

Grade 623%

School 23% · District 23%

▼ 11 pts below state median · ▼ 16 pts below county median

Grade 732%

School 32% · District 32%

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▼ 15 pts below county median

Grade 814%

School 14% · District 14%

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 544%

School 44% · District 44%

▼ 10 pts below state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

Grade 659%

School 59% · District 59%

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Grade 760%

School 60% · District 60%

▲ 3 pts above state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

Grade 845%

School 45% · District 45%

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▼ 19 pts below county median

Science

Grade 524%

School 24% · District 24%

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

Grade 89%

School 9% · District 9%

▼ 4 pts below state median · ▼ 11 pts below county median

This schoolNewton Public School District, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 5Lower-income42%Higher-income46%4 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income49%Higher-income71%23 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income43%Higher-income77%34 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income29%Higher-income60%31 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 5Lower-income27%Higher-income26%1 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income18%Higher-income29%10 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income21%Higher-income43%22 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income4%Higher-income26%23 pp gap